Enter the frozen wastes.

It's a bizarre sight to behold. Where you stand, you feel an intense heat radiating from all directions. Even the ground is hot to the touch, and streams of flames burst from geysers back from where you came. Yet only a dozen feet ahead is the polar opposite. It's nothing but ice and snow, still over hills and valleys, though looks like you're gazing into the inside of a freezer. You can't feel it at all from here, however. There's a perfectly straight line drawn across the ground, cutting the island in half.

And the moment you step over, all becomes clear.

You gasp and shudder. Immediately, you wrap your arms around your body as the cutting air chills you down to your bones. The snow crunches beneath your magic boots. Though you're now out of risk to be severely burned by flames, it seems almost worse here. Heat is life, and in temperatures so low, it's like your energy is being sapped from your body. Carefully, you move forwards, though there are many spots slicked with ice. Ahead, Vyzia seems unaffected. Niki, however, may not care at all about the temperature, her footing gives out and she falls to her back with a thud.

"Are you okay?" you ask, hurrying over to aid her.

She grabs your arms and pulls to her feet. "I'm fine. It didn't hurt even a little. Was just annoying."

"Watch where you step," Vyzia commands.

You nod. "Though I don't see any deadly geysers, there are new obstacles to avoid now. Don't slip and fall. And any sort of creatures may be lurking in the snow."

Malakae groans. "I may be a dragon, but I much prefer heat over cold. Can I at least have my shoes?"

Eva looks down at her feet. "Mmm. No. I'd get frostbite immediately!"

"We definitely didn't dress for this, huh?" Stax says with arms around loosely covered bust.

"That we did not!" answers Captain Silver. "But I don't mind. Aqulo are pretty resilient against the cold, ya know, given the ocean isn't really known for being hot. But we best not linger. The more the breeze picks up, the deeper that chill cuts."

Bek stomps forwards. "Ain't nothing to me neither."

It seems to do little to Niki, both due to her sunheart physiology and her Rite of the Sun markings, and for half of those reasons, Lynx is doing better than most. Bekram is a durable dwarf, and if he is affected, he doesn't show it. Vyzia does also prefer the heat as a red dragon, though she marches with equal footing alongside Malakae, now in even more ways than before--two naked dragons, side by side. You're doing better than many people would, though you'd rather not be here for long. It's frigid, and you have no specific resistances against that. Just sheer **** of will, and a body levelled through hardships. Xue seems incredibly unaffected as well, though perhaps it's his concealing wardrobe. And as Captain Silver explained, she is doing all right for now, though even the deep ocean isn't as cold as this.

On the other hand, Eva is shivering, even in this new dress she wears. Amara as well. Just like before, she keeps her staff with Vyzia, and now the opposite of before is true. It's too frigid to touch. Snow tries to hide it, but her body betrays that by shivering as she walks. Lalarin is much the same, though perhaps worse in a sense. Her outfit is less skimpy to a degree though she was sweating so much in her spandex before that she's freezing cold now. Fava feels the chill on her outer body, and the interior is likely just as cold. Dixby has little to protect her either. On one hand, she's smaller which doesn't help, though on the other, at least she doesn't dress as skimpy as most of the others present.

A clump of icy snow falls from the jagged cliff face above. Niki quickly brings her shield overhead like an umbrella, protecting herself just in time. "Gah. Who runs this place again? Aak'aba? Well these empresses could do a better job at maintaining their empires. The other was a game-loving cellar-dweller with an emotional state flickering as rapidly as an open flame. So what's the next gonna be? An emotionless hag?"

"... The frost eye watches," Xue speaks cryptically. "Watch what you say here."

"I'm so cold," Eva complains. Then she bumps up next to you, grabs your arm right, and sighs with a smile. "This is a little better though."

Amara then comes up to hold your other arm. "This is a nice idea, Eva. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Kyle here is always so warm."

"And what happens if I need to draw my sword?" you ask in jest.

Niki looks back with a thumb pointed at her chest. "That's what I'm here for! Unless you have a third arm I can hold."

Stax snorts. "Well actually--"

"Stop!" Xue commands.

The party halts, though they aren't certain why. Still, the voice from one usually so silent is enough to grab everyone's attention.

"Do you see something?" Captain Silver asks.

He peers his cold gaze over the tall hills on either side of the lower path through which you've been marching. "Prepare yourselves," is all he says.

"If Xue is saying it, I believe it," she says as she draws her cutlass to hold up high. "Ready for more danger, Captain Warren?"

Snow takes a few steps back and pulls herself up against a boulder, arrow at the ready.

Meanwhile, Lynx sinks down behind her. She then whispers, "Wow. Snow, your legs are so smooth."

"... Th-Thank you," she answers quietly. "But we must focus."

"Ooh, I'm so ready. Finally, more action," Bek says with a grin. After enough excitement builds, he swings his mighty maul down to crash against the ground in front of him. Not realizing what exactly awaited a few steps ahead, however, the weapon shatters a large patch of ice. The ground trembles, leading up to the hillside at his right. Similar to a manner as before with Niki, though much stronger, a collapse of snow barrels down towards the dwarf. He opens his eyes wide, and while he doesn't budge an inch, it completely envelopes him while still standing straight. All that can be seen is the top of his head.

Xue glares over at him. "Any possibility of stealth--"

"Was impossible from the start," another states, finishing the man's sentence for him, though unlikely with words originally intended. The tone is quite terrifying--deep and growling. A figure stands ahead, just before a bend down the path. He looks in all ways like a human at first, though without any sort of clothes or armour. Then you realize he's entirely made of ice. There are no details on his face, or anywhere else. It looks more like a pale blue silhouette than anything else. As he holds out his hand, a sword made of the same grows from his palm--an extension of himself.

"How did he speak without a mouth?" asks Fava.

"Ah. I do know this one," Malakae speaks up. Though her words grab everyone's eyes, which doesn't do well given her continued wardrobe malfunction. She tries to hide her blushing cheeks in order to continue her boast. "A truly dangerous creature. Only found in the coldest parts of the word, Frozemen are creatures harder than ice that can multiple themselves almost infinitely. They're also technically a sort of demon. Or rather, the main body's core is one. Small, seemingly harmless, though all the rest grows from it."

Snow pulls back the string of her bow. "Just say the word," she whispers.

"How dangerous are we talking?" you ask.

"Very," Malakae answers. "They're sadistic, bloodthirsty creatures. I wonder if it was simply slumbering all this time, and a certain somebody woke it up."

The pile of snow still engulfing Bekram wiggles.